1. Lesson One of the Book of Daniel, Introduction to the Book of Daniel

Things to Come, Lesson 8, The Person of the Antichrist, Part 2, Revelation 13:1-8

In the first part of this study concerning the man of sin, the ultimate man, the Antichrist, we heard the words of Christ in:

John 5:43,  I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

In saying that he had come in His Father’s name Jesus gave his credentials to the Jews.

He did not come in his own name but came in the name of His Father and all the authority of His father.

He came in the name of God’s word which had been given to the Jews for centuries, the word around which they had built their religion.

Jesus Christ came with credentials.

He came with the full backing of the Father.

He did not expect the Jews to receive him simply because he appeared before them but brought to them the evidence of scripture.

Just preceding this statement regarding his coming he told them in John 5:39-47 to test what he is saying:

In this passage we are given God’s way about testing that which is true or that which is false.

We are not to give our lives to that which has no substance or that which does not have the blessings of God.

God does not expect blind followers for He gives us every thing upon which our faith is founded.

We are to search the scriptures, not only read them but to search them which denotes diligence in examining and studying them.

II Corinthians 13:5 tells us to,  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.

In doing so we will stand upon solid rock, we will stand upon light and truth which is found in Jesus Christ and Him alone.

But the men of this world, the men who reject the credentials of scripture we are told in John 3:19,  love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

So this is the state of men when the man of sin comes on the scene

This one who is to come will come in his own name.

He will come not claiming scripture as his support, not presenting credentials but he will come without anything but himself.

He will come as the self made one, the one who depends on no one other than himself.

He will come with great swelling words which will excite the emotion that pervades the darkness.

He is the ultimate man, for whom the world has been waiting and he will say that all desire will be satisfied in himself.

God said He made man in his own image however as is the mode of Satan he will attempt to erase any vestige of God’s image in this man.

He will be a man who takes all glory unto himself yielding none to God.

He will be the culmination of man’s efforts to live life without God.

The culmination of man’s efforts to fulfill the "No God for me cry" of the fool.

To everything there is a harvest.

Even a harvest of ideas for the idea that I can live life without God has been growing since Satan planted it in the garden.

And this growth will bring forth this perfectly godless man, this ideal man, this man who perfectly lives without God.

He is the hybrid man, the man who has come from the seed of Nimrod who decided to build a tower to heaven attempting to make a name for himself.

He rejected any connection with God’s name but went about to bring glory to himself.

From him came the seed that Satan has been nurturing for centuries and Satan will be proud to introduce this man to the world and bring glory to himself.

It is obvious to all that the world is searching for a super human, a political leader who will usher in the age of peace and tranquility for which men have hungered.

God of course has provided such a man but His man is the man of the cross, before whom man is required to bow.

But bowing comes from humble souls of which there is a dearth in the world.

This is not a world of humble souls for this world majors on the proud and Satan’s man will project such ultimate pride as to easily draw the world to him.

He will be the leader of the "no God for me crowd."

In taking out the bride of Christ at the Rapture God leaves to this leader only those of this crowd.

As can be seen from the scriptures once the calling out of God’s people takes place this leader will emerge to organize the world according to his own political and economic principles.

Revelation 13:1-8,  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. ²And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. ³And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. ⁴And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? ⁵And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ⁷And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. ⁸And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

This man of sin, this son of Satan was introduced to us in Chapter 6 of Revelation when the seals were opened by Christ.

Remember the unveiling of the four horsemen which was a sign of that which is to come.

Horsemen are travelers and when you see them in the distance you know they are coming and that which they bring will arrive.

Revelation 6:1,2 introduces us to the first horse, a white horse which reminds us of the white horse and its rider revealed to us in Revelation 19.

The rider on the white horse of Revelation 19 is the Christ, the true ultimate man, sent from God, but the rider of the white horse revealed in the first seal is the counterfeit man, the man of sin, the Antichrist.

We are given to see in this revelation one who has great authority, authority that is given to him.

This is the ruler whom the world has been waiting for and he will be handed authority from a willing world.

He has a bow, a symbol of warfare but it is a bow without arrows.

He will be handed the world on a silver platter for he will have all the answers the world craves.

He will bring for a time, Peace and Safety and the world will rejoice.

At times the history of WWII is shown on television and I marvel at how Adolph Hitler was able to capture the minds of Germans to such a high state of loyalty.

His oratorical skills and organizational abilities have provided us a taste of what is to come in this man whom Satan will present to the world.

This world ruler will have power to fire up men, women, boys and girls with fervor and enthusiasm such as the world has never seen.

His word will be as if it were the Word of God for he will be worshipped as God.

He will sit in the temple announcing that he is God and men will worship him as God.

They will build a great and magnificent image of him in his honor and he will make the image speak.

He will be able to unite all the factions of the Earth with his diplomatic skills and by them will unite the world.

But God gives him a rope only so long for God will not share His glory with another.

The rope that he gets will stretch only 42 months.

For when they say Peace and Safety sudden destruction shall come.

This man of sin, this ultimate man promises peace but peace will come only by God’s plan and that plan is totally contained in the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is an amazing thing to see how dedicated Satan is to turning backwards every plan of God, always presenting the counterfeit for Satan has no original thought.

Only, and I say only, the Creator has original thought.

As the Book of Ecclesiastics tells us: There is nothing new under the sun.

The nature of man is a broken record, a record stuck in one groove, playing the same tune over and over again.

So the seals are broken by the Prince.

The white horse bringing peace is seen coming but behind the white horse dark omens are presented for the red horse is coming to take peace, the black horse is coming with famine and the pale horse is coming with Death and Hell.

The superhuman, the Antichrist, in the midst of the seven years of tribulation opens the door for all evil to spew forth.

The horses arrive on the scene and so horrible will be the destruction and human slaughter that without the intervention of God himself all flesh would be slain.

Jesus told us of this in Matthew 24:21-22,  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²²And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

For Israel’s sake God will intervene and will cut short the reign of Antichrist.

The mouth of the Antichrist will be stopped for God is clear in His Word, namely Isaiah 42:8,  I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

So in answer to this superhuman man of pride, our Lord will command his son to return to the earth.

And in so doing He shortens the days and halts the carnage.

So with the spirit of his mouth and with the brightness of his coming he will destroy the epitome of evil that Satan presented to the world as his crowning glory.

Paul speaks of this in II Thessalonians 1:6-9,  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; ⁷And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, ⁸In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: ⁹Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

I love to read of the conclusion of the matter.

I love to be able to read the end of the book.

To live in this world and to not know the outcome is a fearful thing but God is so good to show us what will come of this world.

Believers will be caught up together in the air and will be isolated from the wrath reserved for Satan and his people.

This civilization will have reached its peak under the prince and power of the air.

Satan will have had his day.

All creation will see the results of sin and will know that sin is an affront to a Holy God.

All creation will see the judgment of Almighty God poured out upon the Antichrist and all who choose to follow him.

As the hand of God wrote on Belshazzar’s palace wall,  Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting.

God smells this world and a sweet smelling savor it is not!

He has let the harvest come to fruition to show how horrible sin is to him.

He has weighed this world in the balance and all of it, not 99.9% percent of it, but all of it has been weighed and He has found it wanting.

God does not involve Himself in patch up work but He will instead create a new creation.